ῥάμφος

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See also: ράμφος

Ancient Greek

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Etymology

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Next to this word, there are ῥέμφος (rhémphos, mouth or nose) and ῥαμψός (rhampsós). The words ῥέμβομαι (rhémbomai, to turn round, roam) and ῥόμβος (rhómbos, wheel) are phonetically comparable and semantically similar; confront further ῥάβδος (rhábdos, rod, wand) and ῥομφαία (rhomphaía, Thracian sword). Germanic words have been compared, like Middle Low German wrimpen (to turn up one's nose), but these comparisons are ungrounded. The variation β/ψ rather points to a Pre-Greek origin, as does the α-vocalism. Moreover, ῥαιβός (rhaibós, crooked) is probably a variant, showing prenasalization.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ῥᾰ́μφος (rhámphosn (genitive ῥᾰ́μφεος); third declension

  1. crooked beak of birds of prey, bill
    Synonym: ῥύγχος (rhúnkhos)

Inflection

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Greek: ράμφος (rámfos)

Further reading

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